With a growth that is leading some to question whether the devices will actually eliminate peripherals in the delivery of streaming content, smart TVs are now in a large majority of TV homes, and account for over half of all TV sets says a study from Hub Entertainment Research.
The third annual Connected Home report shows that as more Americans use smart TVs to stream, ownership of a smart TV set has grown to 70% of TV households at present, a notable milestone in their adoption said the analyst. The study was based on a survey conducted among 5,000 US consumers. Interviews were conducted in February and March 2021 and covers consumer ownership of many types of media-related technologies.
Overall, 52% of all TV sets are now reported to be smart TVs, up from 45% at the same time in 2020. This says Hub indicates accelerated replacement of older, non-smart TVs with smart TVs. Homes with kids or younger adults were more likely to own smart TV sets. Greater proportions of smart TV ownership were found in homes with children under age 18 (59% of all sets are smart TVs), or in homes where the oldest person is under age 35 (61%).
As a result of this growth, Hub found that providers of separate streaming devices are hedging their bets by outfitting more and more smart TV sets with their software. The study also showed increasing ownership of TV sets with built-in operating systems from Roku or Fire TV. More than two-fifths of TV households now have one of these sets. Indeed, over half (57%) of TV homes now say they have a Roku/Fire TV streaming device or a Roku/Fire TV set – a large increase over our year-ago measure (51%).
The survey also found that any streaming to a TV set has increased to 77% of all homes from 74% a year ago – whether using the built-in capability of a smart TV or a connected device. The adoption of smart TVs is said to have driven this increase. Overall, 56% of all homes say they stream using a smart TV at least once a month, up from 48% in 2020.
The pandemic was found to have brought about a big change in how people plan to buy smart TVs. Hub’s data showed that in 2019, more people (42%) planning to buy a new TV set said they planned to shop for it and buy it in a store; only 27% planned an online purchase. In 2021 the pandemic has flipped the numbers: only 29% said they planned to buy at a retail store, while 43% planned to buy online.
“The wider adoption of smart TVs and replacement of non-smart TVs turns up the pressure on connected devices like streaming boxes, streaming sticks, and video game consoles,” said David Tice, senior consultant to Hub and co-author of the Connected Home study. “This ‘eliminating of the middleman’ will have a direct impact on how future revenue is split on advanced TV businesses like streaming, interactive shopping, and addressable advertising.”
Overall, 52% of all TV sets are now reported to be smart TVs, up from 45% at the same time in 2020. This says Hub indicates accelerated replacement of older, non-smart TVs with smart TVs. Homes with kids or younger adults were more likely to own smart TV sets. Greater proportions of smart TV ownership were found in homes with children under age 18 (59% of all sets are smart TVs), or in homes where the oldest person is under age 35 (61%).
As a result of this growth, Hub found that providers of separate streaming devices are hedging their bets by outfitting more and more smart TV sets with their software. The study also showed increasing ownership of TV sets with built-in operating systems from Roku or Fire TV. More than two-fifths of TV households now have one of these sets. Indeed, over half (57%) of TV homes now say they have a Roku/Fire TV streaming device or a Roku/Fire TV set – a large increase over our year-ago measure (51%).
The survey also found that any streaming to a TV set has increased to 77% of all homes from 74% a year ago – whether using the built-in capability of a smart TV or a connected device. The adoption of smart TVs is said to have driven this increase. Overall, 56% of all homes say they stream using a smart TV at least once a month, up from 48% in 2020.
The pandemic was found to have brought about a big change in how people plan to buy smart TVs. Hub’s data showed that in 2019, more people (42%) planning to buy a new TV set said they planned to shop for it and buy it in a store; only 27% planned an online purchase. In 2021 the pandemic has flipped the numbers: only 29% said they planned to buy at a retail store, while 43% planned to buy online.
“The wider adoption of smart TVs and replacement of non-smart TVs turns up the pressure on connected devices like streaming boxes, streaming sticks, and video game consoles,” said David Tice, senior consultant to Hub and co-author of the Connected Home study. “This ‘eliminating of the middleman’ will have a direct impact on how future revenue is split on advanced TV businesses like streaming, interactive shopping, and addressable advertising.”
